I will be 60 in 06 also and my brother passed 70 a couple of years ago.  Here is a url of his Bike trip report when he was 70. (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)
My Brother Floyd and I made it to Jimbo’s  Jimboree.  So what’s the problem with these 50 some people? Do they need a adult to accompany them?  I think they are old enough they just need to get there confidence. It will come with age.
MagicPaddler

Stumps

Get off your arse?  Twas a great plan.

I'm 44 and had the tar whooped out of me by better men (and gals) this year, but I learned.  You folks keep me younger than others but with improvement required.

This is a unique thing and should be pursued more often than every five years.  I'm up for it again..even if I fail again.

See you next year?  Hex decides?  Spose that would be correct, providing time permits.

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Stumpy,

I am sure you never heard ME say anything about being too old anytime this side of the year 2025.   [Even then, by that time I should have my sons trained-up well enough to "assist" with the tougher portages & bushwhacks!]

The way I look at it, it comes down to desire & know-how.  Like I've said before, pghportager, hex, pennpaddler & the boys got to Sucker Lake by virtue of their smarts, not their obvious youth.  I'll pit my daily exercise routine OR play one-on-one basketball (alas, I no longer dunk) against any of them or ANYBODY on this board on a wager (one case, beverage of choice).  Nevertheless, THOSE GUYS made it to the goal and I did not.  My assessment?  They were motivated & prepared.  I was not.

What pghportager & Snow_Dog have both said about Jimboree taking some of the "reward" out of Jamboree is quite true & very insightful... at least for me.  The "risk" somehow seemed less worth it AFTER Jimboree.  Indeed, hex & the boys were working off of a different equation.  This includes coming in with confidence gained from past orienteering experience & similar ventures.   

Their achievement is inspiring... MAYBE enough so that I will look at my equation differently next time.

Then, again, maybe NOT.  Sometimes the risks seem really daunting.  Consider....

Does anyone know if they've found the body yet of that experienced but presumably hypothermic hiker/camper whose clothes were abandoned?  Also, how about that kid who found his father unconscious (bad staff infection) and had to get him into their canoe & paddle most of a day in order to find help just in the nick of time?  Both of these events happened around the same week as Jamboree (the first in the Park & the other not so far away).

Or, suppose I'm in a party with a guy who has just hurt his back pretty bad??  Do I risk moving on?

What I do is: I look my paddling partner in the eye, I gauge what I feel from that connection, & then I decide.  It is very much a "real-time" versus a "pre-meditated" thing.  Stumpy, YOU must have gone through a very similar exercise, I'm sure.

Anyhow, this is all just "talk" (albeit fun talk) at this point.  The guys who "made it" inspire us to shoot for a goal.  Many of us will, I'm sure.   However, I, for one, won't know if I'll make it to the next Jamboree until the moment I arrive.

Later,

Jimbo   8)

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Are you serious Jimbo?  For next year?  I thought you had a group trip in mind, but hey, maybe solo is your thing . . .

If anybody has a reason to sport one of those hats, it would be Pascannel.

And DD, you might not want to say too much about your "problem" with pink.  You have to sleep sometime you know.  It might be a humbling experience to thumb a ride out of the park vs. paddling out a pink canoe.

-YB

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